Chapter 4To Sire My True Love

Seraphina instinctively pulled the blanket higher over her lap. “What are you talking about, Damian?”

A flicker of panic crossed Julien’s face before he stepped in front of her wheelchair. “You don’t know anything, von Valerius. Shut your mouth.”

I just smiled and said nothing.

That night, after administering Elara’s daily dose of my blood, I received a note from a courier sent by Madame de Valois, describing the mysterious liquid Julien was using.

Just then, a soft sigh came from the hospital bed. I moved to her side as silently as a wraith.

“Elara? Are you awake?”

Her eyelids fluttered, then slowly opened. She blinked, her gaze focusing on my face.

“Damian?” she murmured, breathing my name.

I stared at her, a jolt running through me. My blood had forged a link within her; she could sense my presence. “You… know me?”

Before she could answer, the door flew open and Madame d’Amboise rushed in. I retreated silently into the shadows of the room, leaving them to their reunion.

For the next few days, Elara threw herself into physical therapy. By the end of the week, she was walking on her own.

Soon, the tenth day of the wager arrived. The Valois mansion was filled to capacity.

When Elara and I walked into the grand ballroom together, a collective gasp rippled through the crowd. My very presence seemed to drop the temperature in the room, and every eye was drawn to us.

The murmurs of the crowd drained the color from Julien’s face. “You… you actually did it?”

I offered him a cold smile. “You’ve lost, Julien. Time to honor our agreement.”

Just as he was about to buckle, a clear voice rang out from above.

“Who says we’ve lost?”

Seraphina de Valois. Standing at the top of the grand staircase.

A triumphant grin spread across Julien’s face. “You see, von Valerius? Seraphina can stand!”

Seraphina looked down at me, her face a mask of contempt. “You said I was a lost cause, Damian. But here I am.”

I just shook my head. My hearing could pick up the faint, agonizing protests of sinew and bone beneath her skin. I could smell the accelerating corruption of the ‘Corpse-Flower Tincture.’ “Your legs might have been salvageable before, Seraphina. But now… now they truly are hopeless.”

Fire ignited in her eyes. “Let’s see how long that arrogant look on your face lasts!”

With that, she lifted her foot to take the first step down.